TEMS (Theorizing Early Modern Studies)

History

The Theorizing Early Modern Sovereignty group (TEMS) was founded in 2000 as a collaborative, interdisciplinary workshop investigating the contours of modernity.  When first founded, TEMS concentrated on European history and theory through a precirculated works-in-progress format to which all were invited. By 2002, “sovereignty” had become “studies,'' and the group vowed to promote the acronym only, since an internal debate had begun about the virtue of such periodization moves as “early modernity.” 

TEMS endeavored to create a community of scholars who would:

  1. Undertake and promote research that moves beyond traditional Liberal Arts themes, methodologies, and disciplinary divisions.
  2. Create conditions promoting truly collaborative research involving the humanities and social sciences.
  3. Further both the research of participants and the field-shaping conversations to which their work contributes.

Between 2002 and 2012, TEMS operated in perpetual startup mode, refusing institutionalization and prioritizing a flexible, experimental structure. As such, it  received support from UMN’s Humanities Institute, its Interdisciplinary Research Scholarly and Creative Activities Program, and the Institute for Advanced Study. An inspiration for the Consortium of the Study of the Premodern World (CSPW),  TEMS went on hiatus during most of the CSPW period (2013-2022) when a variety of specialized workshops existed. 

TEMS was revived in 2021 with the creation of the Center for Premodern Studies by CPS Director Juliette Cherbuliez and continues the intellectual (and snack-fueled) tradition of the workshop.

TEMS continues to organize conversations around in-progress works by scholars committed, in any sense, to the premodern. The group offers an opportunity for interdisciplinary, collaborative reflection on the relationship among history, literature, the fine arts, philosophy and the sciences. We welcome everyone, especially faculty and graduate students in the humanities. Our discussion format pushes us to resist speaking from positions of siloed expertise, avoids the traditional rapid-fire hot-seat Q & A approach, and favors a more integrated conversational style where everyone’s knowledge and queries are welcome.   

If you are interested in participating in TEMS, please see details on our Research Workshops page. To learn more about the historic TEMS workshop please see the archived TEMS website, which includes a list of past presenters.

TEMS Founding Members & Key Collaborators

  • Juliette Cherbuliez, Department of French and Italian 
  • Michael Gaudio, Department of Art History 
  • Matthias Roth, Department of German, Nordic, Slavic, and Dutch
  • J.B. Shank, Department of History